What are ya'll getting for gas milage & any tips for improving

Our Falcon just made it's maiden voyage to San Onofre & we surf'd & camped in the van. It was a blast. Anywho we've averaged almost 15mpg. I have a 62 with the 140 engine (i believe).

Anytips for improving fuel economy? I drove around 60mph.... anywho just thought I'd throw it out there to see what ya'll are getting.

Thanks!

I drove to Atlanta and back two weeks ago, 1550 miles round trip, and averaged 15.6 mpg. I was doing 80 most of the time on the highways (my GPS rolling average for the entire trip was 68). Our van has a 240 in it.

wow, thats crazy... so you were going fast than I (55-60) with a bigger engine and got better gas mileage?  

BlueSteel wrote:wow, thats crazy... so you were going fast than I (55-60) with a bigger engine and got better gas mileage?  

a lot of freeway mileage has to do with gearing. many of these vehicles were made for utilities, for driving round town on service calls and as such they are not geared well for the freeway, especially modern freeway speeds.

When I was shopping for my econo pickup I test drove a 61 econo pickup with the 144 motor. it had 4.00 gears in it and someone had switched it over to a C4 auto. It would top out at 65mph, pretty sure that one would get crap mileage driving at 55-60mph.

what is your axle code on you vin tag? for a 62 144 the factory offered 3.50 (code 01) or 4.00 (code 02). if you have the 4.00 that migh explain the crappy gas mileage.

As for the 240 getting better gas mileage on the freeway, some of them came with 3.00 gears (mine did, although most are 3.50) so they do great on the freeway. unfortunately 3.00 gears on the small 144 would probably be terrible to drive with miserable acceleration.

Rear ends can also be swapped over the years. If you want to me sure of what's in there, jack the car up, mark the driveshaft, mark the tire, rotate drive shaft one turn and have someone count how many times the wheel turns.

I would figure out what gears you have first before trying addressing other things that may be decreasign mileage. if your cars got a high gear ratio then 15mpg might be the best it's gonna get on the freeway.

dude!!! you live in long beach? I bought that falcon from LB that everyone said "NO run away from it" a couple months ago LOL!... only did i realize my err post-purchase... anywho water under the bridge. We should hang out sometime & talk falcon. I'm trying to learn the ways

BlueSteel wrote:dude!!! you live in long beach? I bought that falcon from LB that everyone said "NO run away from it" a couple months ago LOL!... only did i realize my err post-purchase... anywho water under the bridge. We should hang out sometime & talk falcon.  I'm trying to learn the ways

I never saw it for sale, I was mainly shopping for econoline pickups and was skipping over all the van ads. If you need a good parts source there is guy named Vic in North Hills who i have visited once. He's a busy man but he has tons of econoline parts and even more tech info to go with it. I've met another econo guy in Redondo too. If you ever want to go up to north hills with us for some parts let me know and I'll message you next time we plan a trip up there.

Just let me know when youre coming by,,,
vic

Old Skool wrote:Just let me know when youre coming by,,,
vic

will do! Vic, i saw this post where you mentioned that you had 2 pop-tops for the falcon... is it a pop-top like the VW westy? Or like the VW rivera? Secondly do you still have one? Just thinking of long term goals https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t31311-looking-for-a-camper-van

Sorry,,, but long gone..
vic

289-302 with a 3.50 rear can get up to 20 MPG with a good tune.

3:50's for out of the hole,,, 3:00's too easy and even better,,, LOL
vic

my power valve on my carb wasn't sealing properly & was puking gas after the engine was shut off... think its also may affect fuel economy too... I'll find out on my next San O trip

Hey Guys,
Just reading this thread on the rear Axle and wanted to see if this makes sense...
I have a 65' falcon Van with a 170 in it.. My Vin says that AXLE is a "03"..
Would that make it a 3.00? It seems to cruise pretty good at 60MPH?

I don't know the Ford numbering, but that sure doesn't match what has already been posted here.
Measure your rear tire height, get a tach and find out the RPM at 60 MPH and plug the numbers into this...
http://www.differentials.com/technical-help/differential-gear-ratio-calculator


Or you can rotate a wheel and count driveshaft turns.
I looked for a decent YouTube of this and found some poor ones.
One guy is crawling under a truck supported with a jack (no stands), another doesn't explain the difference between open and limited slip and gets complex with figuring the ratio.
This one is the best. He does turn it 10 times to magnify the ratio so you will be able to tell the difference between a 3.23 and a 3.55 easier. I've always just done once (twice for open) and been able to figure it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNgjS5mHI0E

Jessetygr wrote:Hey Guys,
Just reading this thread on the rear Axle and wanted to see if this makes sense...
I have a 65' falcon Van with a 170 in it.. My Vin says that AXLE is a "03"..
Would that make it a 3.00? It seems to cruise pretty good at 60MPH?

you have a 3.50 7.25" rear, and yes that should cruise pretty good at 60mph.

If you want to confirm that the original rear end is still there, look for a metal tag on the pumpkin, it should be stamped with this code "WCC-M", it will be caked in crud so removal is necessary to read it, probably easier to rotate the axle/wheels and count the gear ratio yourself.

see code 03 for '65 here
http://econolineid.com/axle.php?s=code

[/quote]you have a 3.50 7.25" rear, and yes that should cruise pretty good at 60mph.

If you want to confirm that the original rear end is still there, look for a metal tag on the pumpkin, it should be stamped with this code "WCC-M", it will be caked in crud so removal is necessary to read it, probably easier to rotate the axle/wheels and count the gear ratio yourself.

see code 03 for '65 here
http://econolineid.com/axle.php?s=code[/quote]
Awesome!
Thanks for the info..
I'm going to crawl the Van tonight with some degreaser and see if I can find that Tag!

Thats really kool and actually a little envious of taking off like you are doing,, That is great!!!!
If the picture of yours is the Blue Falcon,, you are will need to remember you are carrying more weight around every day, even before you load it up with kids and groceries.. and that IF the motor is a 144 it is working harder to get you down the road. Usually, the gearin is made high on purpose to make up for the lessor horse power. Gearing and horse power always work together.
15 MPG is really not bad for what you have and are carrying. It would be pretty hard to improve on that with the weight you are pulling and the motor. If you had say a 200 in there with a nice breathing set of headers and a better carb, then we could work on the gearing to match it and perhaps bump it up to 18 to 20, again,, yours a heavier basic weight compared to a regular van or pick up with nothing in them.
Which rear end do you have?? The 64 did come in an H/D version that had a nine inch in them, if so, gear changes are very easy.
Need to know which gears you have regardless of which type rear end,,,
Vic